Are we human? Or are we dancers?
by AccountKiller254654354351
Summary: An undercover mission leads Jane and Lisbon to participate in a childhood love of Lisbon's. Summmery is really quite bad, just read it, first ever multi chapter fic.
1. Chapter 1

Lisbon and Jane were bantering quietly in the break room, the laughter occasionally drifting over to Rigsby and Van Pelt, who were flirting playfully by Van Pelt's desk. Cho was reading anti sociably at his desk, throwing random comments at the flirtatious couple. Basically a normal day at the CBI for Teresa Lisbon's team.

"But if you've never tried coffee how can you know you hate it?" Lisbon asked teasingly, oblivious to the fact her whole team were watching the conversation

"Because it smells and makes you act like a firecracker" he replied, flashing his 100 mega-watt smile

"You think I act like a firecracker?" she specified through giggles, wandering over to Jane's couch.

"Yes. All firecracker-ey" he told her, jumping up and down, in obvious imitation of a firecracker.

Lisbon could hold it in no longer and collapsed on the old leather couch, falling about laughing, closely followed by a chuckling Jane. The rest of the team began laughing as well, so the whole room had a bubbly atmosphere that made them all feel lighter than air, even Cho was sniggering quietly in his corner.

Madeline Hightower was used to crying and fights, heck she was even used to people pulling guns on each other in this mad house that she called her workplace. But she was not used to the sight that was presented to her when she rounded the last corner to Senior Agent Lisbon's bullpen. Van Pelt was laughing so hard there were actual tears in her eyes; Rigsby's head was thrown back, his mouth wide open, laughing his heart out, Cho was chuckling to himself in the corner, which was a miracle within itself. But her eyes were drawn to the couple sprawled on the leather couch that had become Patrick Jane's. Lisbon's emerald coloured eyes were sparkling brighter than a flame, she and Patrick Jane were falling over each other with laughter. Literally, she saw the unspoken love for the other in them; a sudden pang of guilt struck a note in her heart when Jane began mercilessly tickling Lisbon. In seconds they had both tumbled off the couch, Lisbon landing on top of Jane. She cleared her throat and all noise ceased.

Lisbon sprang noiselessly, gracefully to her feet, embarrassed. Closely followed by a grinning Jane, he jumped humorously from one foot to the other; Lisbon bent her head, laughing quietly.

"Jane. Stop it!" she demanded, hoping to hold off a full blown laughing fit. "Make me." he retorted, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Lisbon glanced over to him, attempting to give him a death glare, but it came out more pleading. He stopped; he would just have to annoy her later.

"Right, I know this sounds odd." She started. Lisbon was instantly wary "But can any of you dance?" she finished. Lisbon's heart thudded in her chest; she contemplated whether or not to say anything in the split second before Jane took matters into his own hands.

"Lisbon can! Lisbon can!" he exclaimed like an excitable child, jumping up and down and pointing at her with glee. She stood there with her mouth open, half formed words forced their way out

"Lisbon?" Hightower enquired


	2. Chapter 2

"I-I-I learnt when I was younger..." She stammered out "Okay, think you could still do it now?" Hightower pressed, she wasn't going to let a chance like this slip through her fingers. Did anyone know how hard it was to find an ex-dancer in the CBI?

"I don't know." Lisbon replied, desperately trying to get out of it "Probably not" She specified.

She was lying, and Jane could tell instantly. He looked over to Van Pelt and caught her eye; she understood his plan in an instant. He stepped a little closer to his floundering boss, hoping his dancing skills were still up to scratch, he looked over to Van Pelt and give the tiniest nod, and she yanked the headphones out of the jack in her laptop. The music spilled around the room at full blast, making everyone jump, but Jane had Lisbon in his arms in seconds.

'And who do you think you are? Running round leaving scars

Collecting your jar of hearts, and tearing love apart.'

The words echoed around the room, most people would carry on with their daily business, putting it down to a Jane stunt. But what he had done next was stunning people to silence.

Lisbon and Jane were spinning effortlessly around the room, Lisbon was having a hard time stopping this, her cheeks were a fiery shade of red, her feet only moving to avoid the more so humiliation of falling over, and probably the pain that would also ensue. She hadn't danced since her mum died, and she felt like part of her soul was awakening from a long sleep. She started to dance with him, holding her own, rather than being half dragged across the room.

Jane threw her easily into the air, not far, just hoping to shock her, but she spun twice gracefully before landing softly on the carpet. His arms encircled her again, and she smiled at him as she led the dance into a more complex realm. The place where feelings were communicated with the watcher. And suddenly, as soon as the dance had started, it stopped.

"Well that was very impressive and imaginative Jane." Hightower managed to say, stunned by what she had just witnessed "Lisbon, Jane, I want to talk to you in my office. I think I might have something that will interest you." She stated before stalking off.

"I hate you." Lisbon hissed to Jane. "it's okay" he replied with a mischievous glint in his eye "I hate you too."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR SO LONG! My muse just decided to up sticks and leave... so I have been holed up in a creative rut for a while :/ thank you for all you people who have reviewed and subscribed and welcome readers who have come along for the ride :D I don't own the mentalist *sad face* so now the boring bits over, on with the story...**

Lisbon was breezing down the hallway after Jane, who was striding confidently behind Hightower. She had no idea what had just happened, but she felt alive and full of life, she just wanted to grab Jane and tell him to dance with her again. Her mother had taught her to dance when she was a little girl; Lisbon had fond memories of standing on her feet as she had waltzed her around the room. The fact Jane could dance didn't surprise her, I guess she knew already. He held himself with the dancers' grace that she had eventually beaten down in her teenage years. It hadn't taken teenage Lisbon long to realize that the more graceful she was, the more she reminded her father of her mother, and that lead to harder beatings. So she had stopped dancing and become a tomboy, burying the part of herself that she loved the most.

"Lisbon?" Hightower queried. She was just standing there, staring into space, deep in thought. Hightower couldn't see the stream of emotion running across Lisbon's face, but Jane could. She looked confused the happy, then scared and then so unbelievably sad that he put a hand on her shoulder "Teresa." He said softly, and her far away emerald eyes focused in a second and her cheeks reddened as she noticed the proximity between them and the hand on her arm.

She sank wordlessly into a seat and Jane followed closely behind her, curious and worried all at once.

"We have an undercover mission I think you would be interested in, situated in Phoenix, you will audition for a show and observe the director, we feel he may be linked to a drugs case that the FBI have pulled us into. I think that you two are good enough to get in, but you will have to choreograph and perform 6 dances and a fight scene, they may ask you to sing, but it's not compulsory. It will mean living in Phoenix for 18 months." Hightower finished with an expectant look.

Jane expressed his willingness to do it, and Lisbon also readily agreed the thought of dancing nonstop for 18 whole months made her heart soar, it didn't matter that it was all the way in phoenix, or that she would have to live with Jane for 18 months. She hadn't even thought of the extreme heat that was the opposite of frosty Sacramento, or sleeping arrangements, or the numerous things that the normal Lisbon would think of. Just that she would get to do the thing she loved so much for so long.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: thank you for everyone who has been following me through all of this, you are all beautiful :D **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the mentalist... there! You happy now ;)**

Sticky heat was pressing on Lisbon from all sides and she realised very quickly her idea of 'summer' was not the same as phoenix's. She associated summer with 70 degree heat, sun and blue skies. Right now it was a toasty 101 degrees, so Lisbon was sweating in her jeans and tee shirt. She had expected the warmth, but not like this. Jane was also feeling the heat in his usual 3 piece suit, Lisbon could barley imagine him without the vest on let alone in a tee shirt. The very thought made her want to giggle.

Hightower had accompanied them and driven them to the apartment, made sure they knew how to get to the state of the art dance studio and gave them a map of the local area _and_ made them repeat back their new identities 3 times before she reluctantly left. Lisbon felt like a child being left alone for the first time, it annoyed her. Jane just wore his usual calm smirk, however when Hightower had been gone for ten minutes and they had finally gotten over the shock of what had happened, he went in search of the air conditioner, which Hightower had left out in her parental lecture, annoyingly enough. When he had finally succeeded and cooler air was circulating the 2 bedroom apartment he sauntered over to the large windows and flung them open as wide as they would go, hoping for a miniscule breeze to waft through. Unfortunately his hoping was in vein as the air stayed still and unmoving, so he gave up and went through to the first bedroom he spotted.

He realized too late that Lisbon was unpacking; she hastily shut the drawer she had been stuffing underwear into, her cheeks burning red which had nothing to do with the heat. Jane noticed she had changed into a pair of _very_ short shorts and a tightly fitting tank top, her feet were bare and her long-ish wavy hair had been pulled into a hasty high ponytail to keep the thick curtain away from her neck. She was now standing looking expectantly at Jane, who was staring out of her window, which was also flung wide open.

"The other bedroom is down the hall" she prompted gently; he nodded in acknowledgment and picked his suitcase up and dragged it to the other room. Silence fell in the apartment, it wasn't an awkward or resented silence, but comfortable. They knew each other so well they didn't need to be reassured with words.

Within the hour Jane, who had changed into combat shorts and abandoned a top, was lying next to Lisbon who had rolled up her top as high as it would go. They were both sprawled on the floor underneath the main air vent, panting heavily; the temperature had risen outside, if that was even possible in Lisbon's mind, and now hovered around the 110 mark. It astounded Lisbon that she was only one state over from her home, frosty Sacramento. No awkwardness was created by the complete and utter lack of clothing, they both understood the need to stay cool, and had given up on speaking to one another over half an hour ago. Lisbon did not stir when Jane rose and strolled leisurely over to the kitchen, assuming he was getting a drink. She closed her eyes contentedly against the cool air wafting against her hot cheeks. She sensed Jane returning even though his footsteps were silent. Suddenly a wall of freezing cold water hit her face and ran all over her top, a few dribbles even making wet marks on her shorts. Lisbon Shot to her feet, hair wet and plastered to her dripping face, sodden top flopping down with a wet splat on her stomach, a few tiny rivulets were even running down her long legs. The cup had been grabbed away from Jane in an instant, and he attempted to swing her around by the arm, but she danced away from his grasp, sprinting to the kitchen where the cup was brimming again in seconds. Jane had begun to race after her, but seeing the full cup, began running in the opposite direction. Gripping his shoulder, Lisbon yanked him playfully around, smile plastered on her face, and chucked the water at Jane. It splashed all over his face, running down his bare chest to finally be absorbed by his rapidly dampening waistband. Dropping the plastic cup with a clatter, Lisbon dashed to the door, just managing the retch the door open and sprint onto the burning hot path before Jane had his arms around her waist, pulling her off her feet and spinning her around, Lisbon was laughing uncontrollably, and kicked her legs gracefully outwards as they span around and around. When he finally out her down they turned to face each other, and a rush of warmth spread through both of them, until Lisbon's feet could take the burning concrete no long and hopped onto the grass before they both ran inside and out of the monstrous heat.


End file.
